ICYMI: Fall Foliage Prediction Map Shows Leaf Color Changes

Fall leaves are arguably the best part of autumn, especially in the mountains of North Carolina. To make your fall leaf peeping trip planning easier, the folks at SmokyMountatins.com have created an fall foliage prediction map that allows users to easily see the kaleidoscope of autumn colors as it creeps across the nation, week by week.

“Each year, we use a proprietary algorithm to process millions of data pieces and output accurate predictions for the entire country,” said Wes Melton, co-founder of SmokyMountains.com. Once the data is processed, the map outputs over 50,000 pieces of predictive data and then displays it on an interactive map.”

The data included in the map includes historical temperatures and precipitation data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as well as NOAA forecast temperatures and forecast precipitation, historical leaf peak trends and peak observation trends.

“Although simply entering rainfall, temperature data, elevations, and other data points into a model will never be 100% accurate, this combined with our proprietary, historical data drives our model to become more accurate each year,” Melton said. “However, unexpected rainfall that falls well outside of expected trends can always change the peak foliage dates and brilliance.”

SEE ALSO: Fall Foliage 2018: When N.C.'s Blue Ridge Mountains Will Peak

You can find the map here.

Photo by David Chapman / imageBROKER/Shutterstock